


Afire

by catbythefirelight



Category: La casa de papel | Money Heist (TV)
Genre: Angst, Communication, Established Relationship, F/M, Future Fic, Hurt/Comfort, Implied/Referenced Domestic Violence, On the Run, Post-Canon, Relationship Issues, Russia, Trains
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-03-16
Updated: 2021-03-16
Packaged: 2021-03-23 19:35:10
Rating: Mature
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,872
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/30060489
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/catbythefirelight/pseuds/catbythefirelight
Summary: Once the heist at the Bank of Spain was completed, Raquel and Sergio boarded a train on the Trans-Siberian railway, a network stretching nine thousand kilometres across Russia. As they make their way back to their family, they try to recover themselves and their relationship.
Relationships: Raquel Murillo/Professor | Sergio Marquina
Comments: 27
Kudos: 73





	Afire

**Author's Note:**

> So, this fic makes a few assumptions about Part 5 based on what I think will happen. Though, I tried to keep my predicted plot points vague. What I want isn’t really to theorise on what will happen in P5, but to hope that Raquel and Sergio will patch things up between them and start addressing their issues after P5. They deserve it ❤ 
> 
> ALSO: In my head, the Ibiza thing never happened because a truly-written Sergio would never have done such a thing to Raquel! Hence, as far as this fic is concerned, it doesn't exist.

The train rumbled gently under Raquel's feet as if it were alive while she made her way to her cabin. The train wasn’t very crowded, but they’d chosen a cabin near the back anyway. It meant that their bunk was far from the washroom, but it didn’t matter—taking precaution was always worth it. If they were discovered, they could jump off the back of the train and make a run for it, having a head start on any pursuers. 

Raquel slid open the door to their cabin quietly and stepped inside. The door closed behind her with a soft  _click_. 

Sergio was fast asleep, lying on his back on their bed, their blanket lying haphazardly across his torso. The rays of the mid-afternoon sun streamed into their cabin through the window, setting Sergio’s hair alight so its brownish hue appeared almost red. Raquel crept up to the bed and carefully laid herself down in the space beside him. Sergio didn’t so much as stir. 

She reached a hand down carefully into Sergio’s suitcase, digging inside for his well-loved copy of  _Crime and Punishment._ She’d read the book many times when she’d started out at the police academy, but Sergio’s own copy was annotated, with little notes scribbled in the margins in his carefully-etched handwriting. It was his annotations which she really wanted to read. She wanted to trace her fingers over his cramped letters; to absorb the thoughts of his eighteen-year-old-self, living through novels as he fought his illness. She held the book above her head and searched for where she’d last stopped reading. 

She startled and almost dropped the book when Sergio caught her wrist in his fingers, tugging her arm towards him. “You came back,” he said, his voice gruff with sleepiness. “I woke up earlier and you were gone. I missed you.” 

She gave in, putting the book down on the suitcase next to the bed before letting Sergio draw her into his arms. She touched her hand gently to his bare chest, mindful of the bullet wound to his right shoulder. Not even a full week ago, Suarez had shot Sergio while he and Marseille were escaping their hangar. She wanted to kill Suarez for it, but she could only be thankful that the shot had missed any vital organs. 

Sergio winced as he adjusted himself on the bed onto his left side. 

“You need to lie on your back,” she protested, her hands tightening on his shoulder. 

Sergio shook his head stubbornly. “I’m fine. You need space too.” He propped himself up on his left elbow so he was leaning over her, his lips twitching into a smile. “I can’t do this if I lie on my back all day.” He kissed her, slow and sweet, and Raquel smiled into the kiss. His breath was musky with sleep, but she didn’t mind. She held his head between her hands, feeling his hair slide between her fingers. 

Sergio edged his torso over hers, resting his weight on her a little. His legs entwined with hers. In the process, Raquel’s feet, cold from walking the corridors of a Russian train, brushed against his, and Sergio broke their kiss with a grimace. “Ah. Seems like I need to warm you up.” He touched his fingers to Raquel’s face. “Even your cheeks are cold.” 

Raquel laughed. “Serves us right for choosing to hide in Russia, I suppose.” 

Sergio chuckled and leaned back in to kiss her again. 

When they separated, he murmured, “Where are we?” into her ear. His hand slid down her side till it rested along the curve of her waist. 

She shivered. “We should be near Yekaterinburg by now. It's been four days.” With every kilometre they crossed, they came closer and closer to Marseille, who was guarding Paula and her mother. 

Sergio raised his head to look out of the window. Raquel stretched her head backwards to follow his gaze. There were wasn't much to see besides trees, looming high above them. 

She turned her head back on the pillow to watch Sergio’s face. His brows were furrowed as his eyes tracked the landscape anxiously. 

_Would he ever follow a plan of yours?_ Alicia’s voice whispered, a knowing hiss of doubt in her ears. It was Raquel who had suggested Russia as their new destination. Raquel shook her head a little, clearing away the memory of Alicia's words. Russia was a sound choice—the police would only expect them to hide in Southeast Asia again. Palawan, the place they'd loved each other hard and enjoyed life for two years, would be the first place they looked.

“You’re really not used to letting other people control things, huh?” she murmured. 

Sergio’s eyes returned to her guiltily. “No. I’m sorry.” He touched his hand to hers gently. “I told myself I would be different now, but it’s hard.” 

It was the closest they’d come to discussing their issues since—well, since they’d argued during the heist, before she was arrested. During the heist, they had staunchly avoided anything that could trigger an argument. They had been too deathly afraid of everything derailing into chaos if they disagreed. Instead, Raquel had swore she would make it out to resolve everything unsaid between them once she’d escaped the bank, and they had reduced their communication to discussions of their plan and short affirmations of love.

And yet, they’d still avoided any tête-à-têtes since they’d returned from the second heist. There was always something to do, something to plan, something to worry about. Did Raquel change Sergio's bandages yet? Were they safe, what would they do if they were spotted, if the police got any hint of where Marseille had taken Paula and her mother? Was the janitor on the train watching them, was he a spy from those working to hunt _el Professor_ and his gang down? Would the old woman whom Raquel had helped carry her bags recognise them from international newspapers and report them? 

But now, there was only them and the train. And silence. They only ever tried to fill the emotional space between them with physical affection, tried to say with their touches what they had trouble saying with words. After all, they’d said too much during the heist and had only hurt each other. It didn’t help that after their separation during the heist, they were also starved for each other's touch. 

“It’s okay,” she murmured. Raquel smoothed her hand down Sergio’s chest, tucking herself closer to him. He was so warm. In his embrace, she could almost forget everything she wanted to say to him since they'd started arguing during the heist. The way he looked at her, piercing, as though he couldn’t look away from her, soothed the voice of doubt in her mind, the one that so often took on Alicia's voice. 

He bent down to kiss her deeply. She ran her hands up the skin of his back and shoulders, and then down his flanks. He shuddered and arched into her touch, sighing into her mouth. Whenever she touched him like this, she was sure that if he could purr, he would. 

“A bullet doesn’t stop you, huh?” she murmured. 

“I told you, I’m almost recovered.” Sergio kissed her jawline, and she reflexively turned her head to the side to give him access. “And I want you all the time.” He kissed her neck, trailing his hand slowly down her side and slipping it up her shirt. His fingers traced a path up her ribs to the side of her breast, teasing its curve. Raquel sighed, raising her hand to his head and curling her fingers in his hair. Heat flared up in her lower abdomen as he caressed her, and she closed her eyes. 

“Keep going,” she breathed. 

“All in due time.” Raquel heard the smirk in his voice. The bed shifted as he leaned back up to kiss her thoroughly. Her toes curled as his hand slipped down to her thigh. With that, she was lost in sensation, and she forgot everything she wanted to tell Sergio. 

* * *

The phone rang in short, soft bursts of sound, and Raquel jerked up from her pillow, instantly alert. Sleeping lightly was something she’d learned back from her years with Alberto, where danger loomed if he came home late, drunk and furious with her for being too friendly with Angel, or for not preparing dinner to his liking. In Palawan, happy and in love, she’d slowly forgotten that habit and returned to her more natural sleeping rhythms. But in the days of the heist where their sleeping hours were carefully rationed, she’d learned to sleep lightly once more, always on the ready for chaos to break out. It would take some time for her to forget again. 

She scrambled for the phone. It was the number she'd given Marseille if Paula or her mother wanted to contact her. 

“Hi, Mama.”

“Hello, my darling,” Raquel breathed into the phone, smiling widely. "How are you?"

"I'm okay. I miss you." 

"I miss you too, baby." Raquel's throat was tight. 

"Abuela and I are playing hide and seek! But Abuela's taking a long time to find me. She's not as good as hide and seek as you are. So I thought I would call you while I wait. Marseille said it would be okay." 

In the corner of Raquel's eye, she could tell that Sergio was deeply asleep. She’d worn him out, it seemed. That, and, no matter what he said, he was still recovering. 

"Yes, of course it's okay. You know I want to talk to you all the time." 

“But then why aren't you here? Why have you been gone for so long, Mama?” 

Tears welled up in Raquel’s eyes. For a while, she couldn't find it in herself to respond. She’d worked so hard to patch up her relationship with her daughter over the past two years, but with those words, she felt almost as if she were back at square one. With her daughter telling her to her face that she was never at home, so it wouldn't make a difference if she stayed with Alberto instead of her. 

"I'm on the way back to you now, sweetheart." 

"Hmmm. Okay." There was a short silence. 

"How have you been doing with your tutor?" Raquel wiped away her tears. 

“I'm okay. We've started on algebra. Where’s Sergio?” Paula asked eagerly. “Can I talk to him? I have a homework question.” 

“Sergio’s sleeping, my love,” Raquel said. Their phone call was getting too long, and there was no time for Paula to talk to Sergio. It wasn't safe for their call to last longer than five minutes. Sergio stirred a little at the sound of his name, but otherwise he didn’t move. 

“Okay. Mama,” Paula whispered into the phone theatrically. “I think Abuela is nearby.” 

“Boo! I’ve found you!” Raquel heard her mother exclaim. Paula squealed in laughter, and there were loud thunking sounds, as if the phone had fallen down onto the ground. Raquel pressed her hand to her mouth, chuckling quietly. 

Raquel heard her daughter's voice again. "Sorry, Mama, I dropped the phone. Can you hear me?"

"Yes, darling, I hear you." 

"Okay. Abuela wants to say hi." 

"Okay. I'll see you soon, I love you." 

"I love you too." 

There were shuffling sounds as though the phone was being passed between hands. "Hello, Raquel, is that you?"

" _Si_ , Mama, it's me. Are you okay?" 

"I'm all right, love. It's quite a long business trip you're taking, you know. I hope the police is paying for it, goodness knows they don't pay you nearly enough for your time." 

Raquel's heart dropped down to her stomach. She closed her eyes tight, until she could see little sparks of blue and red flash behind her eyelids. Her mother thought she was three years back in time. "Yes, Mama, they're paying for the trip."

"All right, then. Hey, your friend—I forgot his name, what's your name?" Her mother addressed Marseille. "Hmm, well, anyway, it begins with a M, he says the credit on this phone's running low. I don't know what he's talking about, but he's awfully insistent, so I guess we have to wait to talk more next time."

"Okay, Mama. Bye, I love you."

“Love you too. Look after yourself, my dear." The line went dead. 

Raquel sniffled as she lowered the phone to her lap. Her hands shook a little as she worked to peel off the back of the phone to disassemble the SIM card from it. The SIM, as tiny as it was, slipped from her trembling fingers after she took it out. 

She cursed softly. Before she could reach down to pick it up, Sergio was leaning up, reaching his hand down to take it. “Let me help.”

“You need to cut it, with scissors. And then burn it.”

“I know.” Sergio held his hand out expectantly.

Raquel reached down into her bag and passed her scissors and lighter to him numbly. She watched as he snipped up the SIM into tiny pieces, then reached for their candle holder. Sergio clicked the lighter on, a little blue fire flaring to life. They watched the fire engulf the pieces of the SIM card, turning it into ash. 

Raquel took their candle holder and stood from the bed. She slid their window open, feeling the wind buffet her hair wildly and sting her eyes, watching the trees beside the railway tracks zip past. The thrumming of the train  was loud in her ears. She held her hand out of the window, watching as ash flew out of the candle holder into the air, little particles vanishing to nothing, pulled down to the train tracks. 

“Raquel?” 

She jolted out of her reverie at the sound of Sergio’s voice, only then realizing that he’d called her name a few times. She reached back to slide the window closed and bent down, sliding back under the covers. Sergio’s warmth welcomed her as he wrapped his arms around her, his palm cupping the back of her head. She pushed her face against his chest, feeling a lump rise up in her throat. 

“How’s Paula?” His voice was soft. 

Raquel fisted her hands against her neck. “She misses us. She’s wondering why I’m away for so long.” She sniffled. 

Sergio was quiet for a long moment. Then he said, “I’m sorry, Raquel.” 

Raquel blinked. She tugged herself away, just a little, enough that she could see Sergio’s face. He was avoiding her eyes. “Sergio?” She touched his chin, his beard scratching lightly against her fingers. “Why do you say that?”

“I never meant to disrupt your life.” His voice sounded anguished. “Or take you away from your daughter. I never wanted to hurt you, and yet I ended up hurting you most of all. The things I said during the heist… I’m so sorry. And when I thought you were dead—” Sergio’s voice sounded thicker and his breath hitched, but he didn't stop talking. The words flowed out of him as though he'd been holding them in for days. “—I wanted to take all my words back. I hated myself for saying those things, for those being the last words I ever said in person to the woman I love. You never deserved any of that.” 

His words brought tears to her eyes. It was the most she’d heard him say that wasn’t related to their plans ever since they had boarded this train. 

He continued. "I was so angry, so anguished when I thought you were gone, I ordered Palermo to attack and hold nothing back. I wanted to destroy them for what they did to you." 

_The police officers who burned._ Raquel had been horrified to hear of Sergio's order. After all, the police officers who had almost burned to death were only following orders themselves. But Sergio's order had been made with the intent to defend themselves too—they had had no choice. If she were in Sergio's position, believing he'd been shot dead unarmed, and blinded with grief and rage, high on adrenaline from being attacked from all fronts... Raquel knew, deep down, that she would have been hard-pressed to do the same. 

"I know I'm hard to live with sometimes. I was only ever used to being alone my whole life. But love is a choice, I think, not merely a feeling," he said. "And I want you to know that I would choose you everyday, even when it's hard for me. You, and Paula, and Mariví too."

Raquel couldn't help it. She burst into tears, and Sergio looked so alarmed, she would have laughed if she wasn't so torn up. Sergio drew her closer into his arms and she sobbed into his chest. "I was thinking that I wanted to have this long talk with you about, about everything," she blubbered. "And you, you just end everything I wanted to say to you with one speech." She sobbed harder. 

"I'm sorry—should I have waited?" Sergio sounded confused and pained. His hand drew soothing circles on her back.

"No!" Raquel shook her head vigorously. "It was perfect, damn you. I was so angry with you when we argued during the heist. I gave up everything for us, for me, and you just wanted—" She broke off. "I can't even be angry with you anymore. I had nightmares of losing you every time I slept during the heist." 

Sergio continued to calm her, rubbing his hand up and down her back. Slowly, her breath calmed, and she huddled up to him, tucking her face into his chest. She sniffed, her nose blocked with the force of her bout of crying. 

"Let me get tissues," Sergio said, reaching up, but she shook her hand, holding him tighter. 

"Don't go," she said. "There's no tissues in our suitcases, you'd need to go to the train's bathroom." Her voice was all thick with her tears. 

"Okay. I'm not going anywhere." Sergio's arms tightened around her. "You can tell me, you know. Everything you thought, everything you wanted to say. I want to know." 

Raquel hesitated. “I don't know. I can't remember all of it now."

"You could tell me in bits and pieces, then." 

"I just know, you scared me sometimes,” Raquel admitted, her breath puffing out. “The way you looked at me. I know it was just your persona, _el Professor_ , but it was as though you hated me.” 

He drew her back gently so he could look into her eyes. “I'm so sorry. I could never hate you. I never wanted you to think that." He paused. "I suppose I didn't know who to be. _El Professor_ or Sergio?” He drew her hair back from her face. "Rational or emotional?"

"Who says you have to choose?" 

Sergio hesitated, cocking his head to the side. "I don't know. It was the only way I thought I could be." He touched his hand to her cheek. "Now I know, being both only brings out the best of me. Loving you is what drove me to fight so hard to get you out. And when you were away..." His words trailed off. His Adam's apple bobbed in his throat as he swallowed. 

"When I was away?" Raquel prompted him. 

“It was hard. The whole time, I wanted to keep you by my side,” he said. “Where I could see you, know that you were safe, even if I was frustrated sometimes, trying to be _el Professor_ while you were with me. And yet, it was so hard for me to be apart from you. I know if Plan Paris came to fruition, either of us would be in the Bank, but I had hoped it wouldn’t really happen.” 

Raquel _tsk_ ed. “It was my choice! You know one of us being sent into the bank was my idea. That's why... I was so happy, you know, when Antoñanzas told me, 'Paris.'”

"The gang needed you," Sergio smiled wryly. "I admit that. More than they needed Palermo's leadership, they needed yours. Selfishly, I still wanted you with me, though."

She pressed her face into his neck. "I was happy, being where I was needed. But I missed you." 

They laid together in silence as Sergio ran his hands through her hair gently. Raquel closed her eyes. There was always more to be said about everything that had happened. But this was the start of something. 

"And now what?" she asked sleepily. She just wanted to stay here, in his arms. 

“We could stay in Russia,” Sergio suggested.

She hummed. “Should I start calling you Sergei? Or _Seryozha_?” 

“No!” Sergio said, scandalized, and Raquel laughed, looking up at him, happiness sparking in her chest like a golden flame. She knew he’d hate the sound of a diminutive. “But,” he reluctantly admitted after a pause, “we’d have to go by diminutives, so I guess you could. In public only, though.” 

Raquel shrugged. “I prefer Sergio anyway,” she said slyly. 

Sergio traced his thumb across her lower lip. “I like my name in your mouth.” His eyes darted up to hers. She remembered just as well as he did the times she called him Salva rather than his true name.

She leaned forward to kiss him, hoping he tasted forgiveness on her lips. His hand came up to cup her cheek, and she turned her cheek into his touch. 

“We made the world bend for our love,” Raquel murmured into his palm. They'd fought to earn their happiness together against all odds. He'd done everything he could to free her from the police. Now, they were both free. “We could do anything we want.” 

“Anything,” Sergio echoed her, his eyes contemplative. “I do like the sound of that.” 

She nuzzled his palm, letting her lips linger on his skin. “Where do you want to go when we reach Marseille?” 

“It’s your turn to decide this time.” 

She looked up at him. He looked back at her, his jaw set, his eyes glittering with certainty. It was the same look he'd given her all those years back, when he’d said,  _I don’t want this to go away. I don't want to ignore this thirst for life because I've never felt one like this before._

“No.” Raquel sat up and turned away, reaching back into her bag. She pulled out her map of Russia and spread it out on the bed in front of her. 

She glanced back at Sergio. “Let’s decide together. We’ll do things together from now on, okay?” 

Sergio’s eyes were soft. “Okay.” Ignoring the map, he tugged her down so she was leaning over him. He wound his hands into her hair as he kissed her. 

“I missed you so much while we were apart,” he whispered when they separated, a hair’s breadth between their lips. “I wished I could touch you. I hated every second you were away from me.”

Raquel closed her eyes and kissed him back, memorizing the softness of his lips against hers, the gentle pressure of his fingers against her scalp. The love in his touch. 

His kiss tasted like forever. 

**Author's Note:**

> Seryozha is the Russian diminutive for "Sergei."
> 
> If you liked this fic, I'd be ecstatic if you'd let me know what you think in the comments! Kudos are very much appreciated too! xoxo


End file.
